HB 2071 Summary

• Prohibits teachers, principals, and school employees from subjecting students to corporal punishment, defined as inflicting physical pain as a means of discipline.

• Allows use of restraint and seclusion techniques only when a student's behavior presents imminent danger of bodily harm and less restrictive interventions are insufficient, with requirements for continuous monitoring and proper training.

• Requires schools to provide same-day or next-day written/oral notice to parents when restraint or seclusion is used, along with detailed written documentation within a reasonable time.

• Removes language allowing school districts to adopt corporal punishment policies, eliminating paragraph 2 from the discipline rules section (15-843, subsection B).

• Clarifies that the corporal punishment prohibition does not prevent reasonable physical contact for maintaining order and safety, such as briefly holding a student for calming purposes or separating students in physical altercations.